Cataloging Ethics & Subject Headings
Adamich, Tom. 2024. “Cataloguing Code of Ethics.” Technicalities 44 (5) (Sep): 19-22.
"This article focuses on the “Cataloguing Code of Ethics” and its impact on the cataloguing profession. Topics include the development of the code by international cataloguing communities, the influence of critical librarianship on cataloguing practices, and the critique of the code’s negative portrayal of historical cataloguing standards and its lack of clear solutions for improvement."
Broudoux, Evelyne. 2024. “Systems of Classification and Categorization as Revealing Tensions Within Knowledge.” Knowledge Organization 51 (4): 277–85. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2024-4-277.
“Knowledge organization systems are likely to reveal disagreements and controversies in the construction of knowledge. This article looks at the social tensions reflected in the use of terms such as “race” or typical expressions like “woke” or “cancel culture”. It compares the use of these terms in the French-speaking world between Wikipedia and the Rameau subject headings.” [Abstract]
Chow, Eric H. C., T. J. Kao, and Xiaoli Li. 2024. “An Experiment with the Use of ChatGPT for LCSH Subject Assignment on Electronic Theses and Dissertations.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 62 (5): 574–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2024.2394516.
“This study delves into the potential use of large language models (LLMs) for generating Library of Congress subject headings. The authors employed ChatGPT to generate subject headings for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) based on their titles and abstracts. The results suggest that LLMs such as ChatGPT have the potential to reduce the cataloging time needed for assigning subject terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) for ETDs as well as to improve the discovery of this type of resource in academic libraries. Nonetheless, human catalogers remain essential for verifying and enhancing the validity, exhaustivity, and specificity of Library of Congress subject headings generated by LLMs.” [Abstract]
Dobreski, Brian. 2024. “Anglo-American Library Cataloging.” Knowledge Organization 51 (6): 436–60. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2024-6-436.
“This article details the Anglo-American library cataloging tradition. Cataloging is a knowledge organization process through which resources are represented in the context of a catalog. Emerging from the work of individual libraries in the United Kingdom and United States in the mid-nineteenth century, modern Anglo-American cataloging practices have undergone continuing development over the course of almost two centuries, largely through a succession of widely implemented descriptive standards. They have come to represent a distinct, coherent tradition that has grown in influence beyond English-speaking settings to exert a global impact on contemporary knowledge organization.” [Abstract]
Frederick, Donna Ellen. 2024. “Are Library Data and Metadata Dying or Nearly Dead? A Discussion for Everyone.” Library Hi Tech News 41 (10): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHTN-08-2024-0148.
“This paper aims to inform non-cataloguers about the current and historical significance of both machine readable cataloguing (MARC) records and traditional cataloguing as well as introduce them to current struggles to modernize.” [Abstract]
Gnoli, Claudio, Koraljka Golub, David Haynes, Athena Salaba, Ali Shiri, and Aida Slavic. 2024. “Library Catalog’s Search Interface: Making the Most of Subject Metadata.” Knowledge Organization 51 (3): 169–86. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2024-3-169.
“This article addresses the underutilization of knowledge organization systems (KOS) elements in online library catalogs, hindering effective subject-based search and discovery. It highlights the International Society for Knowledge Organization’s initiative to develop metadata guidelines for library catalog procurement, focusing on maximizing the value of subject metadata from classification systems and controlled vocabularies. The paper discusses the rationale for quality subject access, proposes desirable search functionalities based on research, explores implementation challenges, and outlines future developments.” [Abstract]
Henry, Tiffany, and Alyssa Nance. 2024. “Keepin’ It Inclusive: Inclusive Cataloging Scholarship of the 1990s.” Library Resources & Technical Services 68 (4): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n4.8326.
“Inclusive cataloging has gained more attention within the discipline of library and information science (LIS) within recent years. While the term coined for this concept is newer, the underlying ideas are not new and have been part of the professional and scholarly conversation within cataloging for decades. To trace these ideas, the authors conducted a literature review of scholarship on cataloging, diversity, and vocabulary written in the 1990s to discuss the evolution of inclusive cataloging. The review of the literature from this decade shows the intellectual progression of this topic and how it lays the groundwork for current scholarship.” [Abstract]
Kohn, Karen, Emily Crawford, Noa Kaumeheiwa, and Jenny Pierce. 2024. “Inclusive Collecting, Inclusive Cataloging: Acquiring and Describing Award-Winning Books Honoring Diverse Experiences.” Library Resources & Technical Services 68 (4): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.68n4.8325.
“This article describes a joint project of Temple University Libraries’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee and Metadata and Digitization Services (MADS) department. The intent of this project was to make both the OPAC and the collection more useful, welcoming, and inclusive. The project has two main components: purchasing winners and finalists of awards representing diverse populations and then enhancing records to ensure that these works are cataloged in a way that accurately highlights those identities.” [Abstract]
Leazer, Gregory. 2024. “Yet Another Crisis in Cataloging.” Technicalities 44 (3): 13–16.
The article focuses on the issues surrounding library cataloging standards and the role of the Library of Congress (LC) in shaping them. Topics include the bureaucratic inefficiency of LC’s cataloging practices, the historical impact of Seymour Lubetzky’s work on cataloging reform, and the need for broader external involvement in LC’s decision-making processes to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of its standards.
Mirović, Dalila. 2024. “Bringing Order to Chaos Ethically: ‘Cataloging Code of Ethics’ and Critical Cataloging”. BOSNIACA 29 (29):91-108. https://doi.org/10.37083/bosn.2024.29.91.
“The goal of this paper is to address the ethics in cataloging and the concept of critical cataloging, as a sub-movement of critical librarianship, as well as to highlight the intersection of ethics with critical in cataloging. It also provides an overview of the most relevant academic papers, articles, and documents in this field, with a special focus on the Cataloging Code of Ethics, the first comprehensive, collaborative, and internationally accepted Code specific to the profession.” [Abstract]
Sorensen, Amanda H. 2024. “Catalog Rhetoric as Nation-Building: A Textual Analysis of Smithsonian Anthropology Analog Records.” Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences 47 (3): 51–60. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjils-rcsib.v47i3.17726.
“This case study is a close reading of knowledge organization systems against US state politics, exploring the use of place names within museum records as an ontological practice that furthers and perpetuates nation-building. Throughout this paper, I explore the following question: do the paper records analyzed act as nation building tools and, if so, how? I draw on archival research methods, and textual analysis methods stemming from communication studies to analyze a selection of records, ledger book entries and catalog cards, that document a collection of Northwest Coast materials given to the Smithsonian in 1862 by George Gibbs, a surveyor and naturalist.” [Abstract]
Sullivan, Deirdre. 2024. “‘Our Precious Heritage’: Catholic Subject Headings and the Assertion of Worldview through Cataloging.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 62 (6–8): 603–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2024.2415551.
“Catholic Subject Headings, a list of subject headings focused on describing and representing Catholic belief, ritual, and culture, was first published in 1942 by the Catholic Library Association for use in Catholic libraries. The creation of a cataloging tool solely to represent and serve a distinct religious population allows for an imposition of religious worldview by those utilizing Catholic Subject Headings onto the materials they interacted with. The need for a specifically Catholic cataloging system is also revealing of the complex tensions between Catholics and Protestants and within the American Catholic community in twentieth century America.” [Abstract]
Thornton, Lisa. 2024. “How Did We Get Here? Race and Ethnicity in Dewey Decimal Classification.” Knowledge Organization 51 (6): 414–24. https://doi.org/10.5771/0943-7444-2024-6-414.
“There is burgeoning interest in decolonizing the library catalog to recognize and remove longstanding bias. This article takes a step back and examines how theories about human classification from antiquity informed 18th and 19th century ideas of race and ethnicity and how these ideas became embedded in Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC).” [Abstract]